Friday, September 6, 2013

Good Luck

Odd that we hadn't been to Good Luck before. Maybe because of its bring your beards and vintage shirtwaist dresses kind of vibe, maybe because of its massive central bar. I'm not sure. In truth, we stopped trying that hard to be alt-anything years ago. But, on a night when we were running over to the MAG for a movie about the Replacements, we figured, "Heck, it's right across the street, and we used to be rad. Let's do it." We were glad we did!

Good Luck is big on sharing plates. We ordered french fries, a salad, and fried chicken--and sat back to enjoy the mix-matched warehouse ambience while we waited.

The fries came first and were almost addictively good: salty and crisp in a classic thinly cut "frites" style. We kept trying to stop eating them ... and failing miserably.

Then the salad. It had a base of crispy bibb lettuce with a bright and sparky pepperoncini vinaigrette that played perfectly off the pancetta and blue cheese. It was accented with firm chick peas. A great palate cleanser after the fries.

Finally, the plentiful fried chicken. It had more of a batter than a breading crust (I prefer the latter). The chicken itself was seasoned well and was moist in a way that suggested it had been brined in buttermilk before frying. The portion was easily shared and disappeared as quickly as it could be eaten. The sides were not up to the high standard set by the chicken. The corn was a bit too soft and over-cooked while the barley/lentil salad seemed too undercooked and didn't benefit from being served chilled. I'd have gone with a well-chilled tomato-cucumber salad or a crisp corn and black bean side to offset the chicken.

We'd definitely return to Good Luck. Its cooler-than-you rep masks a very welcoming restaurant with a winning menu. Yum!